US drivers very close to F1: 'You'll be impressed'

Since Alexander Rossi drove five races for Marussia in 2015, we have not seen an American driver in Formula 1. Now two big names are close to moving to the top class of motorsport and so GPblog spoke about these young talents in an exclusive interview with Mario Andretti.

American drivers in F1

The last time an American F1 driver completed a full season was in 2006. Scott Speed was Toro Rosso's regular driver that year and started 28 Grands Prix in a season and a half. For the last American points, we have to go back to 1993, when Michael Andretti finished third in a McLaren at that season's Italian Grand Prix.

In 2022, two names have been spoken about a lot. Colton Herta was the first. For instance, he is said to have been on AlphaTauri's list as Pierre Gasly's replacement. Despite victories in the IndyCar championship, the American does not have a super licence and the FIA did not want to offer an exception. Herta is in good standing with Andretti, though. Indeed, the 22-year-old driver drives in the US motorsport championship for Andretti's team.

Herta figurehead of Andretti

"He’s got that quality, it’s good that other teams are seeing that. He did a very good test for McLaren in Portugal. Two days. He did a full race time and was very competitive. I can’t tell you the times, you’ll be impressed. He never put a wheel wrong, he looked the part. I am not surprised. It would be wonderful to see him in Formula 1," Andretti said in the interview.

Herta will also be in action in 2023 for the Andretti Autosport Team run by the son of Mario who scored the last American points in 1993. So for now, F1 will have to do without Herta for a while, but with Andretti's plans to enter F1, a future in the sport is far from out of the question. Indeed, Andretti would love to take him to Europe.

"As a young lad, 15/16 he was in Europe. Driving Formula 4 alongside Lando Norris. Financially they couldn’t afford to go much forward and Michael picked him up coming back. He was brilliant. Right now, he’s still the youngest driver to win a top IndyCar race. He has 6 under his belt. It’s there. Since he has this objective to be in Formula 1, why not? If he can satisfy his career in Formula 1, he can always come back and finish his career in Indycar like I did."

Sargeant to Williams?

So although Herta will not be on the F1 grid in 2023, there is another candidate for an F1 seat at Williams. Logan Sargeant is the top favourite for Nicholas Latifi's seat and, at 21, also a talented American driver. Williams has the Florida driver under contract as a junior and would consider appointing him for 2023.

"I don’t know much about him to be honest. He came on the scene when Williams decided to bring him on. Looking back, he was successful in Formula 2. I wish him well. I hear good things about him, he has his chance to show. We could have a couple or three American drivers I think it would be good for F1 especially when they come to the states with three races in America. It doesn’t hurt for the fan base to have some of our own in the cockpit," Andretti concluded.

GPblog had an exclusive interview with Andretti, of which we previously published three articles. These included Mario discussing the possible entrance of his family name into Formula 1, looking back on his ride in an F1 car at the Circuit of the Americas and talking about the future Verstappen dynasty in Formula 1.